The authors present morphogenetic and biomechanical approaches on
the concept of the Schistosoma mansoni granulomas, considering them as
organoid structures that depend on cellular adhesion and sorting,
forming rearrangement into hierarchical concentric layers, creating
tension-dependent structures, aiming to acquire round form, since this
is the minimal energy form, in which opposing forces pull in equally
from all directions and are in balance. From the morphogenetic point
of view, the granulomas function as little organs, presenting
maturative and involutional stages in their development with final
disappearance (pre-granulomatous stages, subdivided in: weakly and/or
initial reactive and exudative; granulomatous stages:
exudative-productive, productive and involutional). A model for the
development of granulomas was suggested, according to the following
stages: encapsulating, focal histolysis, fiber production, orientation
and compacting and involution and desintegration. The authors
concluded that schistosomal granuloma is not a tangled web of
individual cells and fibers, but an organized structure composed by
host and parasite components, which is not formed to attack the
miracidia, but functions as an hybrid interface between two different
phylogenetic beings.
